Her Heart
by Ehllona
Summary: My first fanfic ever. I'm Brazilian, 16, and english is my second language, so it might be quite a few gramatical errors. Need to improve my writing skills, specially in english. Please tell me your opinion so I can get better! And be honest, even if you
1. Chapter 1

Chapter I – Party Setup

Payon Cave, F3. A loud, terrified scream suddenly breaks the silent of the apparently empty dungeon, followed by the soud of furrious footsteps. A teenage acolyte boy runs through the darkness of the creepy cavern, followed by a swordswoman that looks slightly younger than him. Chasing after then, a human figure covered by the shadows hops almost as fast as they can run.

"A Bongun!" yelled the swordswoman to her companion "A friggin' Bongun! Couldn't you had healed some skeleton, maybe even a Munak? But, no, you had to provoke a Bongun! Now he's gonna friggin' kill us!"

"Like if it was all my falt!" the acolyte yelled back as they ran as fast as they could "You're the one who got us here in the first place! We shouldn't even had left the first level!"

"Ah, who the hell cares whose falt it is? Just run!"

Suddenly, they stopped. The young swordswoman almost hit her head on the acolyte's back with the sudden break. Another figure was standing in front of then. A young girl dressed in red. The two adventurers stepped back with their faces filled with pure terror as the Munak stepped towards then. The soud of the Bongun's hopping was getting closer behind then. The Munak then raised her right arm slowly, and the acolyte boy placed his body in front of his companion, trying to protect her, and closed his eyes waiting for the blow. But it never came. When the young boy opened his eyes, he couldn't be more surprised with what he saw. The Munak girl was standing behind the young swordswoman, holding a strage shapped, colorful club, which edge had pierced into the Bongun's body like a spear. The undead boy fell to the ground as she removed the club from his chest, and his body vanished like smoke, deep dark smoke.

"What the hell--" shouted the swordswoman when she saw the scene. The Munak then turned her face around and stared at then, her eyes hidden behind the amulet attached to her hat. The acolyte boy was ready to cast a heal spell on her when they heard a female voice shouting.

"Kirya!" said the voice. The Munak girl then attached her punisher onto the back of her clothing and with her right hand raised her amulet in order to see better. She and the two adventurers watched in silent as a young mastersmith girl came out of the shadows, walking towards then. "So here's where you've been. Why do you always have to take off like that?" said the mastersmith, staring at the Munak and completely ignoring the two kids.

"It's not my falt if you're too slow to keep pace with me." said the Munak, looking rather annoyed. "And why do I always have to go where YOU wanna go? Why don't you try to go after me sometimes, just for a change?"

"Whatever." said the mastersmith girl. "I don't even know why do enjoy so much killing those things. I tought you liked this Bongun guy, or whatever the name is."

"You wouldn't get it, even if I explained." the Munak replied, hiding her face behind the amulet again.

"Whatever." said the young mastersmith, one hand on her waist, as she used the other one to remove from her face the waterfall of gold hair that fell from under the oversized boy-ish cap she was wearing. "Hunn... an aco and a swordie, eh?" she finally seemed to take notice of the two kids standing right in front of her. "Now, just what are you two doing down here? Trying to get killled or something?"

"Yeah, the genious here tought the monsters of the first level were too weak for us and decided to go a little further." said the swordswoman, pointing at her acolyte companion.

"Yeah, yeah, I know it was stupid. But who are you to say anything? You're the one who got us lost here. I just said we should go check on the second level and see if we could deal with it." the acolyte boy replied, clearly annoyed.

"Yeah, I got it already, you're both idiots, now stop fighting." said the mastersmith, breaking then apart. "So, since you guys are lost here and problably won't make it out of the cave alive by yourselves... why don't you tell me who you are, so we can all be friends and I'll get you outta here?"

"I'm Hinata." said the swordswoman. "And that aco jerk is..."

"Sasuke." the acolyte completed, with a tone of annoyance in his voice.

"Okay. Sasuke and Hinata, right? I'm Aiko. Mastersmith Aiko. And that--" said the blonde girl poiting at the Munak "--is Kirya."

"Just because you want to." Kirya replied, shaking her head to get the amulet out of her eyes "I told ya a million times my name is Munak. I don't even know where did you take that silly nickname from anyway."

"It's not silly. It's a cute name! And besides, Munak is such a generic name these days..." Aiko said, crossing her arms.

"So that monster is with you?" Hinata asked.

"Monster? MONSTER! Who the hell are you calling a monster, you ---!" Kirya yelled, waving her punisher angryly in the air. "Ever looked at yourself in the mirror!"

"I don't think that's what she meant, Kirya..." Aiko said, trying to calm her down.

"Yeah, I'm talking about the fact that you're a friggin' zombie." Hinata continued.

"I'm not a darn zombie, I'm a kyonshee! Ky-on-shee! Can't you people tell the difference!"

"Whatever, it's all undead anyway..."

Kirya was clearly trying very hard not to hit Hinata in the head, holding her punisher strongly with both hands, almost breaking it in two.

"This girlfriend of yours--" Aiko whispered in Sasuke's ear "--she really wanna die,doesn't she?"

"She's my sister..." Sasuke whispered back "Our parents are married. Seens like she thinks she's wonder woman just because her dad's a Lord Knight..."

"Hello!" Hinata shouted angryly "I can hear every word you're saying, you jerk!"

"You are a jerk." Kirya said, staring at her with a serious look in her face "I'd expect a little more gratitude, considering I just saved your life."

Kirya looked and acted pretty much like a 13 or 14 year old, although she was problably much older than that. Instead of the usual braid, her long, curly, brown hair was loose, what made it even harder to see her face. Even tought she liked to make it very clear that she was a kyonshee, she seemed to be more confortable using her legs for actually walking instead of hoping around.

"Okay, okay, whatever. Can we just move now?" Aiko said, starting to get annoyed and impatient "Or am I the only one who wants to get the hell outta this cave?"

"Okay, I'm moving... I hate this place anyway..." Hinata complained as she walked after Aiko, who had already started to walk away. Sasuke and Kirya then followed after then. The Munak was still very annoyed with the idea of having to walk around with the swordswoman. Sasuke, on the other hand, only cared about getting out of the Payon Cave before they ran into a legion of undead monsters.

The group walked for a long time inside the dark cavern, bashing, healing and hitting their way through the dozens of undeads they ran into. After a rather long fight with a huge group of skeletons in the entrace of the second level, they stopped to rest, since the first level was already safe for then. Sasuke healed his sister, Aiko and himself, and then stared at Kirya for a while.

"Heal me and you're a dead aco." she said, and he turned his face alway in the same moment.

"So... what are you guys doing in Payon anyway? Aren't you supposed to be training somewhere in Prontera?" Aiko asked her new companions.

"Prontera doesn't have any strong monster." Hinata answered. "Just a bunch of porings and stuff. But what about you? I tought merchants were from Alberta. And if you're that strong, why would you waste your time in here?"

"I didn't came here to train. I came here for Moonlight. I only headed back because of you two."

"Moonlight Flower? I've never seen her, so I don't really know, but the people in the town says she's very dangerous." Sasuke said, entering the chat.

"She's very strong, it's true. But the townspeople exaggerate too much. She ran away last time we fought, so I'm back to challenge her again. Last time I got that punisher Kirya carries around from her. This time, I'm after the real prize, the Moonlight Dagger."

"Oh, right, you're a mastersmith. That's what you guys do, right? Look for rare stuff?" Hinata said.

"I don't want it just because it's rare. Of course it would look great in my collection, but that's not why I want it." Aiko said, with a slightly sad tone, turning her head down.

"Then why do want that Dagger so much?" Hinata sked, withrout noticing the change in her voice.

"Despite the fact that I'm a merchant, I'm from Payon. My older brother Ryu was an Archer. He loved this place. Always spent most of the day in here, training. Then, when he came back, he'd tell me all those stories about the Payon Cave. His biggest dream was becoming stronger so he could visit the only level in the cave he had never been to, and defeat the Moonlight Flower. He always brought me a lot of gifts from here, so I decided I wanted to be a merchant, so I couldn't collect all the items that existed in the world. When I told him that, he said that when he defeated the Moonlight Flower, he would bring me the most beautiful and rare item of the Payon Dungeon, the Moonlight Dagger. But he never got to the last level. He was killed by Edgga when he was on his way to the hunter guild." Aiko then hidded her head under her hair, while holding her legs together tightly. Kirya sighed, but it was impossible to see her expression, for her amulet was covering her face.

"I see." said Sasuke, with a serius look on his face "So you're doing this for your brother."

"Yeah." Aiko answered. "After he died, 8 years ago, I went to Alberta to became a merchant. It's been 4 years since the last time I visited Payon. That's when I met Kirya. I had just became a blacksmith then."

She then raised her head and stood up.

"But that's enough talking." she said "Time to get moving."

Aiko then grabbed her cart, in which Kirya was sitted, and began walking again, followed by the two siblings. Getting past the zombies and skeletons of the first level wasn't much of a challenge, and they soon were standing at the cave's entrance, in the Payon Archer Village.

"Argh! Too...much...light...!" Kirya complained, covering her eyes as they left the cave.

"Bah! You spent almost 30 years in that cave and I didn't see you camplaining when you left!" Aiko said, annoyed by her Munak's over reaction.

"Finally, were're out of that stupid place!" said Hinata, stretching her arms.

"I'm just glad we made it in one piece." said Sasuke, relieved. "Thanks to miss Aiko. By the way, I'm sorry that you had to come all the way back just because of us."

"Nah, that was nothing. And you can cut the 'miss' part off of my name." Aiko said, cherfully. "So, what do you guys plan on doing now? 'Cause I don't think you'd want to go back in there."

"Not in a million years!" Hinata shouted.

"I dunno really. Maybe we could just go train in the forest. Or go back to Prontera..." wondered Sasuke.

"Why don't we go to Comodo?" Kirya suggested.

"That's a great idea!" Aiko agreed. "I can visit the casino again, you guys can go training, Kirya can go visit her precious Kokomo Beach and everybody gets happy!"

"I tought Comodo mosters were even worse than Payon Cave." Hinata said.

"Not if you have my help" Aiko replied. "And besides, the monsters in that Mao Cave only attack if you attack then first. Except those stupid neraids, but I can take care of then."

"If it's okay by you, then Comodo's good enought for me." Sasuke said.

"Yeah...we don't have anywhere better to go to anyway." Hinata agreed.

"Then we're set. Our little party here's heading to Cave City Comodo!" said a smiling Aiko, while they walked toward the town of Payon.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter II – Munak

Mastersmith Aiko. That's how she liked to be called. She loved the sound of that word, mastersmith. Only 17 years old, she was the youngest person to ever reach the job of mastersmith. She knew that. And she was very proud of it. She never forgot she became a merchant for a reason. Even her clothing had a story to tell. The old, oversized cap she wore was a gift. A gift from the one who teached her the ways of the merchant. Master Haru, as she liked to call him. A gift to the merchant who became a blacksmith. Tied to her right wrist, a big red ribbon. The ribbon that once tied the braided hair of a young girl.

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Payon Archer Village, near the entrace of the Payon Cave. A very young blacksmith girl is sitted by a grave, longs locks of golden hair covering her face. She starred, for a long time, at the tombstone, in which the name Ryu Kuroda was written.

"Brother..." she said, with a sad tone in her voice. "I'm sorry for not coming here to visit you for so long. I was busy. Remember when I told you I was gonna be a merchant? I did that, brother. I'm a blacksmith now. I'm training to become a mastersmith now. Someday, my brother, I'll be strong. And I'll defeat the Moonlight Flower, as you wished, and take the Moonlight Dagger that should be mine, if they haven't took you away. I'll do it, my brother. I'll do it for you. My beloved brother..."

A single tear slipped through her face and fell on lap. The young blacksmith was so foccused, that she didn't notice the figure standing behind her. Her surprise wasn't small when she heard that sad female voice talking to her.

"You're his sister...aren't you...?" said the voice softly, yet very sadly.

The blacksmith girl stood up quickly, surprised and scared. Standing near her was a very pale young girl, her long, brown hair tied into a braid, staring at her with a very sad glaze hidden behind an amulet. The blacksmith rushed to get a huge axe out of her cart, and stood in a threatening position, with an expression that mixed fear and anxiety.

"You haven't answered my question." said the undead girl. "You're his sister...aren't you? Aiko...right?"

"How... how do you know my name?" Aiko asked, confused and clearly nervous. The girl did not move.

"He told me. He told me many things. The first friend I had in very long. Most people won't even wait like you did, before attacking me." the undead girl explained "Your brother was very nice to me. But still, he lied to me. He said he'd meet me again after he had became a hunter." the girl stopped for a few seconds, and then continued "But I can't say I was surprised. After all, _he_ lied to me too. _He_ said we'd be together forever. _He_ promised me... Huh. I don't even know how many years it's been..."

"You knew my brother?" Aiko asked the obvious.

"We met quite a while ago. He could have killed me if he wanted to. I didn't see when he came. But instead of attacking me, he talked to me. He befriended me. It was the first time I had a living creature caring about me since _he_ died too." said the braided girl "I miss Ryu. Like I miss _him. _I'm glad you at least gave him a nice ending. Many townspeople don't do that. That's why that cave is filled with people who shouldn't be in this world. I miss him, but I'm glad I haven't seen him around lately, if you know what I mean."

"..." Aiko dropped her axe in the ground, and spent the next few minutes just staring at the other girl, who looked about her age.

"Last time I saw you was in his funeral, years ago." said the girl. "Why did you come back now?"

"I wanted to talk to him... that's all." Aiko answered.

"You do know he can't hear you, don't you?"

"Of course I do."

"And you don't care?"

"No."

"...Then your brother was right after all...we do have some things in common..." said the undead girl with a smile.

"...You...you're that Munak girl,right?"

"Yep. That's my name. Munak. Of course you already knew that. Everybody does..." she sounded a bit sad when she said it.

"Brother told me about you. I didn't tought he had actually met you. He told me your story, said you're the one who told him. I used to love hearing about you when I was a kid."

"Why? You didn't tought a dead person could tell a story?" Munak asked. "I'll tell ya, when you're dead, you don't really need to talk to tell a story."

Aiko didn't really understood what she was saying, but she decided not to ask.

"I never expected to see you here. Brother said you never leave the cave." said Aiko.

"I didn't. But I'm not so sure what will I do now. I'm tired of looking for _him_. It's been years and years that I've been looking for _him_, but I can't find _him_ anywhere. And now that Ryu is gone too, I don't have anyone..."

"..." Aiko stopped and tought for a few seconds, then she asked "Why don't you come with me then?"

"...What?"

"You and me. We could make a good team. I used to have someone with me too. My master. But he's gone to Lighthalzen, so I guess we're both alone now."

"You and me..." Munak kept silence for a moment, before she continued "Like Ryu said. He said we could be good friends."

"I don't see why not. I'm alone, you're alone. And I don't think you'd want to stay in that cave forever."

"I don't,but... _He_'s in there and... I want to find _him_... I REALLY wanna find _him_..."

"Listen, I have no friggin' idea who are you talking about" Aiko said, stepping closer to Munak "but I know one thing, if it's been so darn long that you've been looking for this guy and you haven't find him yet, trust me, you won't. I mean, that cave can't be THAT big."

Munak stopped for a while, thinking. Then she nod her head as if agreeing with something.

"Okay. I'll go with you." she said, staring at Aiko. The wind blew stronger and pushed her amulet to the side, leaving her beautiful face uncovered, her eyes filled with determination, as if she had just made the biggest decision she ever had to make.

"Great!" Aiko shouted with a huge smile "Listen, Munak's a pretty name and all, but you gotta admit it's quite a generic name now, don't you think?"

"Excuse me?"

"Kirya. I'm gonna call you Kirya!" Aiko shouted with an even bigger smile on her face. Munak was speechless.

"What the...?"

"Don't mind it too much. It's just a nickname."

"But what does that have to do with my name?"

"Nothing. But it's just so cute!"

"Yeah, if you're naming a poring or something..."

"Ah, you're no fun. Whatever. I'm gonna call you that anyway."

"You... got serious issues, ya knew that?"

Aiko didn't say anything. She just smiled and stared at Munak, as if to say she knew she was crazy and didn't give a damn about it. Munak stared back at her for quite a few minutes, then she untied her daenggie and extended her hand to Aiko, holding her ribbon.

"Here." she said "Take it."

"Huh?" Aiko took the ribbon and stared at it "What for?"

"Just a gift. So you'll remember me. I like to keep mementos. They can help when your memory fails." Munak answered, looking at something on her right hand, something that looked like a ring. Aiko placed her hand on the boy's cap she was wearing and made a sad face.

"Okay. I don't think it's necessary, since we'll be walking together now, but--" Aiko tied the red ribbon to her right wrist "--I'll keep it always with me."

"Oh, yeah, we'll be together now." Munak whispered to herself "But no matter how much you want or promise, you're gonna leave someday too. Like your brother did. Like _he_ did..."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter III – Desert City Morroc

"I still don't get it why can't we just ask the Kafras to teleport us." complained Hinata, as she delivered the final blow to a magnolia.

"What's so bad about walking anyway?" asked Aiko, cheerfully looting the items the magnolia had dropped and throwing then into her cart, where Kirya was sitted, complaining about the heat. "And I tought you guys were into this for the experience. I know magnolias aren't that much of a challenge, but you gotta admit it's way better than slaying helpless red blogs in Prontera."

"As if the problem was actually the walking." Kyria complained "I'm burning inside these clothes, ya know?"

"You say it like if we never had been to Sograt Desert before." Aiko replied.

"Yeah, but we usually just rush through it and leave the monsters alone." Kirya continued "And I don't remember it being THIS hot!"

Sasuke had been very quiet since they left the Payon Forest and entered the Sograt Desert, but since Hinata said he was always like that, nobody really cared much about it. A huge stone golem passed by the group then, and Hinata rushed into it at the same moment. She was ready to hit it with her sword when she felt Aiko's hand grabbing her arm.

"What the hell are you doing? Let go off me!" Hinata shouted, very annoyed.

"Are you crazy? You REALLY wanna die, don't you?" Aiko replied, with a serious look on her face "You can't kill a golem by yourself! If you keep attacking the first monster you see, you're gonna get yourself killed before we even get to Morroc!"

Hinata pulled her hand as Aiko released it. She kept silent for a moment.

"Yeah, you're right. That was a stupid thing to do." she said, lastly "But what about you? You said I can't kill a golem by myself. It's true, but I tought you came here to help us. Can't you just back me up or something?"

"Not really. Not if you just rush into it like you did. I'm not like your aco brother, I can kill the monster, but I can't keep you alive." Aiko said, with a serious tone "If you get hit, having me cut the bastard in two won't make you stop bleeding, ya know?"

"...That's true..." Hinata said, thinking "I gotta stop doing that."

"That's the spirit!" Aiko said, smiling. "By the way, Susuke--" she continued, turning her face around to face the acolyte boy "--I've got something for you."

"Huh?" Sasuke watched as Aiko took a biretta out of her cart and placed it on his head.

"Looks great on you!" she said, smiling, while she stared at the boy as if he was a painting she had just finished.

"Thankx." Susuke smiled, placing his hand on his new hat.

"I tryed to wear one of those once." Kirya said, looking at Sasuke "Back then, when I was an aco. But I never managed to make it look any good."

"You were an acolyte too?" Sasuke asked.

"Yup. I liked that job. But it kindda lost it's shine to me when I died." the undead girl answered "I mean, what's the use of the heal spell if you're too weak to heal yourself when you actually need it?"

"Well, that's a good point you got there..." Sasuke pondered.

"You got something for me too?" Hinata asked Aiko, staring at her cart with shiny eyes.

"Well, I got a helmet, but I think it's too big for you." answered the mastersmith, searching her cart for the desired item. "Why, here it is!" Aiko handed the headgear to the swordswoman, and watched as she tried to adjust the huge helmet on her head.

"You're right." Hinata said, handing the helmet back to Aiko "It's way too big for me."

"I'll try to find something for you later." Aiko threw the helmet back inside her cart, almost hitting Kirya in the back, although none of then noticed that.

"I never really liked wearing hats." Kirya said, ajusting the big red turban on her head "They made my hair look messy."

"That just shows how lucky you are." Hinata said with sarcarm, staring at the Munak's oversized hat.

"Yup." Kirya agreed, still trying to adjust her hat.

The group walked the whole day through the desert, under the scorching sun. Hinata rushing to kill any monster she tought she could handle, Sasuke healing her after each kill and Aiko looting all the items they dropped and carying her cart through the dunes, while Kirya, still sitting on it, kept complaining about the heat. Only after night came, they reached the east gate of Morroc city.

"Ah, there's the city!" Hinata shouted, running toward the gate "Finally we'll get outta this desert!" she rushed up a dune and tripped on a small orange blog, falling to the ground on a very weird way and covering her face and hair with sand. Sasuke looked away, a bit embarassed, trying hard not to laugh, and Aiko giggled a bit, while Kirya burst with laughter.

"Oh...my...God...you're SO stupid!" she laughed, ingnoring Sasuke's and Aiko's glazes. "That's the smartest thing I see you do the whole day!"

"Ah-hah-hah, very funny..." said a sarcastic Hinata, angryly, while the little drops ran away frightened. In her mind, she was wondering if strangling the undead girl would cause any harm.

"You should do that more often! That was hilarious!" Kirya grinned, as she wiped a tear off the corner of her eye. Hinata didn't felt a bit like laughing. It wasn't hurting a bit, but her ego had just being murdered. Sasuke was right about one thing, most of her confidence came from the fact that her father, Lord Knight Yugi, was one of the strongest and most important soldiers of the Prontera Chilvary. Altough she had just passed the swordsman test, she already tought of herself as the strongest swordswoman of Rune-Midgard.

Hinata stood up and kept walking toward the city gate angryly, turning her back to her companions.

"Kirya...you didn't had to do all that, ya know?" Aiko looked more annoyed and upset than angry.

"Ah, but she's so much fun to tease!" the Munak replied, with a wide smile "She takes it all so seriously!"

"She's always like that." Sasuke sighed "And got even worse after she passed the swordsman test. She's got an ego the size of a baphomet... And I think you just stabbed it, Munak..."

"It's not _my_ falt if she's like that." Kirya answered "It's not like people never laugh when_ I_ trip... And that happens pretty damn often if you ask me..."

"Whatever. We can try to make her feel better later, but we gotta catch up with her first." Aiko said, grabbing her cart and taking off after Hinata, followed by Sasuke. The darkness and coldness of the night have already striken the desert of Sograt when they finally crossed the east gate of Desert City Morroc.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter IV - Stalker

Desert City Morroc. The only reason for it to be called that way, was for it was located in the middle of the Sograt Desert. Morroc is many things indeed, but desert isn't one of then. There's only one thing the Desert City has more than sand: life. It's far from being as crowded as Prontera, it's true, but it's streets are always full of people from all over the world. Many of those visitors are novices, attempting to become part of the Thief Guild. Many merchants and other people visit Morroc for shopping, as the city is not only filled with dozens of street stores, but it's also home for the most beautiful jewels of every color and shape.

"It's amazing how these people managed to build a city like this in the middle of the desert." Aiko commented, as she walked through the streets of Morroc, examinating the sea of small stores in search of a good bargain. "It kindda reminds me of Prontera."

"Yeah. It's really amazing." Sasuke agreed. "I never tought Morroc would be so big and full of life. I imagined it to be more... well... desert."

"First time you guys've been to Morroc?" Aiko asked, still foccused on the street stores.

"First time we've been to pretty much anywhere." Sasuke answered. "Payon was the first city we visited after we left Prontera for the first time."

"You guys should go out more." said Kirya, laid down on Aiko's cart, legs crossed, eyes closed, her amulet shielding her face from the sun. "Traveling's what's best. You should do that more often while you're still alive."

"..." Hinata stared at Kirya "Aren't you ashamed of being so darn lazy?"

"Nah!" the kyonshee girl answered, rising her right arm and waving her hand in a 'who cares?' gesture. "I'm dead, I don't need to walk."

"It's no use, Rin-rin." Aiko said, with an expression in which the word 'whatever' could be clearly read "She's always like that. I got used to it already."

"Rin-rin...?" Hinata asked, confused and a little embarrased.

"Huh. At least your nickname's got something to do with your real name." Kirya said "'Cause I dunno about you, but I can't see where's the Munak part in Kirya."

"Hun... Aren't you gonna give Sasuke a nickname too?" Hinata asked.

"Sasuke, huh? Okay. What name fits a Sasuke?..." Aiko tought for a few seconds "Sash! That's it. I'm gonna call you Sash!" she smiled, turning her head to look at the boy. Sasuke seemed a little embarassed, but he didn't say a word.

"How come I'm the only one who can't get a decent nickname?" Kirya complained "Why can't you call me something that actually has my name on it? Like... like..." the undead suddenly stopped, as if she had just remembered something. Sitting on the cart, she turned her head down to the floor and placed her hand on her chest, grabbing her shirt tightly.

"Like what?" Aiko asked, withrout noticing the change on Kirya's mood. "Hey, what's the matter with you? Kirya? Hey, Kirya!" she got no answer. "...Munak...?"

"Ah! N-Nothing! It's nothing!" Kirya finally answered, forcing a smile.

"Is she okay?" Sasuke whispered to Aiko.

"She's gonna be fine." she whispered back. "It's probably just some painful memory popping out. It happens a lot. Must be a part of being an undead." the smith girl's voice seemed a bit sad.

"I see..." Sasuke was still concerned about Kirya. He was an acolyte, and even tough she was an undead, or maybe exactely because she was an undead, he felt the need to help her. There wasn't really much to be done, but he could at least try to get her toughts away from whatever was disturbing her.

"Hey... err... Munak?" he said, a little embarassed.

"Yes?" Kirya answered. She liked it when Sasuke called her by her real name. It reminded her of her old friend Ryu, the archer. And of someone else as well.

"Can you... can you help me with something?" said the acolyte boy, trying to find a way to get Kirya to go with him.

"What is it?"

"Can you? Please?"

"Err... okay..." Kirya stepped out of Aiko's cart, confused and curious with Sasuke's request.

"Thanks..." Sasuke said, blushing, as he grabbed Kirya's arm and started to walk away. "We'll meet you later at the Inn, okay?" he shouted to Aiko and his sister.

"Okay!" Aiko shouted back.

"Just what the hell what _that_?" Hinata asked, as she watched her brother and Aiko's undead friend going out of sight.

"No big deal. He's just being an aco." Aiko answered, smiling. "C'mon, I think I saw something good on one of those stores back there."

"..." Hinata was still thinking about her brother when she turned around to follow her cheerful mastersmith friend.  
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"...Where are we going?" Kirya asked, as she tried to keep up with Sasuke, who turned out to be much faster than he seemed.

"Oh... I... I just wanna buy something for my sister... for becoming a swordswoman and all... you know? And... miss Aiko gave me this biretta and... I... just wanna get something for my sis too..." Sasuke answered, trying to be convincing. Even if he wasn't making that up at that very moment, he probably wouldn't sound very convincing anyway. Kirya's presence and, mostly, the fact that she wouldn't quit staring at him were already enough to make him too nervous to speak clearly.

"But... what do you need my help for?" Kirya said, still confused. The look of curiosity in her half covered face seemed so cute to him that Sasuke had to turn his very red face away before he was capable of speaking again.

"... Ah... that... that is... because..." Sasuke took quite a few seconds thinking of a good excuse before he could speak again "...Because you're a girl. So you should probably know better than me what kindda gift a girl would like to get."

Kirya kept quiet for a few minutes, just following him. Then she suddenly stopped.

"Hun... What is it? Did I... did I do something wrong?" Sasuke asked, worried, turning around to look at her.

"This doesn't have anything to do with Hinata, does it?" Kirya finally said, her face was totally covered by her amulet. Sasuke couldn't tell if she was angry or upset just by the tone of her voice.

"W-What are you talking about?" Sasuke stuttered.

"You... you're just trying to make me feel better, aren't you?"

"...Yes..."

"...Thank you... Sasuke-kun." Kirya smiled, pushing her amulet away from her face with her sleeve. Sasuke turned his face away, trying to hide his embarrassment. He wanted to say 'you're welcome', but he couldn't get the words off his mouth.

"C'mon, don't just stand in there! Let's go do something! I'll show you the city!" Kirya said, with a wide smile, grabbing Sasuke's arm and pulling him. The young boy's face turned red as a tomato and he lost control of his body. Kirya had to pull him the first few metters before he started to walk by himself.

"I... err... sorry about that..." Sasuke apologized. His face was still very red, and would probably stay that way for quite a while, as the Munak didn't seen to have any intention of letting go off his arm. Holding his arm made her feel good. As if she was holding the arm of another boy... the one she never forgot.

"That's okay. Aiko always have to carry me around. Your sister's right, ya know? I really should--" Kirya stopped as she felt a strong, sharp pain in her back.

The undead girl fell on her knees as a young male rogue, standing behind her, pulled his dagger off of her back. Sasuke imediately kneeled by her side, looking very worried.

"Munak, Munak, are you okay?" he cried, placing his hand on her shoulder. "What the hell did you do that for, you bastard?" he yelled agrily at the rogue, who was still standing in the same place, immovable. Sasuke was a very calm person, and suited very well the job he had chosen. Still, it was quite easy to forget he was an acolyte when he was really furious.

"... Ah... my mistake..." said the rogue lad. "Didn't knew the monster was yours."

"Who-the-hell-are-you-calling-a-friggin'-MONSTER?" Kirya yelled, furiously, turning around to face her agressor "You just stuck a knife on my back for no reason and _I'm_ the monster?"

"... Doesn't really seen like it actually did anything..." said the young man, staring at the inexistent wound in her back.

"Well, it still hurts, okay?" Kirya replied, angryly. Every single person who managed to caught a sight of the scene had just stopped everything they were doing to watch it. And they couldn't really be blamed. A local rogue who had just appeared out of nowhere was standing in front of a very furious acolyte kid, accompanied by a Munak, a 'monster' who was supposed to exist only in the heart of the distant Payon Caves, screaming her lungs out in the middle of the street. It's not something you see every day.

It didn't took very long untill Kirya noticed everybody was staring at her.

"What the hell are you looking at!" she yelled at a group of people standing next to her. The fact that her amulet was hiding the angry look on her face didn't make it lose it's effect, actually, it only made her look even creepier. Imediately, not only the kids she had yelled at, but pretty much everybody in the street stopped staring at then and returned to their previous tasks.

Facts: She was dead and clearly furious. Nobody knew how strong she was. She had a weapon. And stabbing apparently had no effect on her. That's pretty much all it took to freak everybody out.

"So?" Kirya asked, staring at the young rogue.

"So what?" the man asked back.

"Don't you have anything to say?" she replied, annoyed. "Like 'sorry for stabbing you in the back for no apparent reason'?"

"Okay... sorry." apologized the young lad. He didn't seen very sorry, tough. Kirya noticed that, but she decided to just ignore it.

"Whatever..." she said, as she stood up and tapped her skirt to get the sand off of it. "Sasuke. We're going back to the Inn."

"Huh? But I tought we--" Sasuke started, standing up as well.

"Back to the Inn." Kirya interrupted him.

"Hun... okay..." said the acolyte boy, following after her. Sasuke was very worried about Kirya. And also very disappointed for not being able to take that city tour with her. He really wanted to spend some time with her, talk to her, and get to know her better. He worried about her. But not as an acolyte anymore. He worried as a friend would. Sasuke was really starting to grow attached to the undead girl, even tough he had only known her for a few days. He couldn't really tell why.

"Why are you still here?" Kirya asked, suddenly. Sasuke couldn't be more surprised.

"W-What?" he asked, confused.

"Not you..." she answered "...him."

A few seconds after she said that, the young male rogue from before appeared behind then, like magic.

"How did you know I was here?" the man asked. He was convinced his hiding skills were perfect, and simply couldn't understand how could she had seen him.

"I saw you coming after us when we left." she answered, ignoring his surprise. "What leads us back to my first question: why are you following us?"

The man didn't move nor say anything, but he was clearly annoyed for letting himself being caught so easily. Specially because, for him, Kirya was just a little girl.

"Hello! Would you mind stop ignoring me?" Kirya shouted, angrily, grabbing her punisher and trying to look threatening. Neighter her glaze, her tone nor her pose seemed to have any effect on the rogue lad.

"I'm keeping an eye on you." the rogue answered.

"What for?" Kirya asked, confused. The lad didn't answer. His expression was totally empty. He actually looked more dead than the Munak girl.

Kirya grabbed Sasuke's arm and started to walk away, muttering a 'whatever' as she did. The rogue lad kept following her.

"Okay... this is starting to get ridiculous." said the undead girl, when she noticed he was still after her "Don't you have anything better to do?"

Again, the young man didn't say a word.

"Fine. Do whatever the hell you want." Kirya kept walking, annoyed. Sasuke sighed and went after her. And so did the rogue.


End file.
